Search and Rescue (SAR) comprise the search for, and provision of aid to, persons who are, or are feared to be, in need of assistance.

The two operations – search and rescue – may take many forms, depending on whether they are both required, on the size or complexity of the operation and on the available staff and facilities. It is necessary that the available resources be so organized and coordinated that effective and expeditious SAR operations can be assured. This requires the establishment of a SAR organization provided with a SAR plan and the means for carrying it into effect.

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) coordinate, on a global basis, Member State’s efforts to provide SAR services. Briefly, the goal of ICAO and IMO is to provide an effective worldwide system, so that wherever people sail or fly, SAR services will be available if needed. The overall approach a State takes in establishing, providing and improving SAR services is affected by the fact that these efforts are an integral part of a global SAR system.

A basic, practical, and humanitarian effect of having a global SAR system is that it eliminates the need for each State to provide SAR services for its own citizens wherever they travel worldwide. Instead, the globe is divided into SAR Regions, each with a Rescue Coordinating Centre (RCC) and associated SAR services, which assist anyone in distress regardless of the nationality or status of such a person or the circumstances in which is found.

Following the accession of the International Civil Aviation Convention of Chicago 1944 and especially its Annex 12, the Republic of Cyprus responding to its international responsibilities and aiming in the establishment of a well organized, reliable and flexible SAR system, deposited in 1994 to the International Maritime Organization the instrument of accession to the 1979 Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue.

Following this, a national legislation entered into force having as main provisions the establishment of a Rescue Coordination Centre, the delimitation of Cyprus Search and Rescue Region, the designation of SAR Units, the authorizations given to the RCC and the frame of co-operation with other international RCCs and services.

The completion of the program of establishment was followed by arrangements for the designation, location and readiness of the aeronautical and maritime Search and Rescue Units, the establishment of RCC at its present premises, the staffing and the training of personnel. RCC Cyprus first came into operation on 7th August 1995 and as from 1st March 2002 in full operational status comprising the functions of a Joint Rescue Coordination Centre responsible for both aeronautical and maritime incidents, as the sole competent authority in the Cyprus SRR.

The Search and Rescue Region (SRR) is an area of defined dimensions associated with an RCC within which SAR services are provided.

The purpose of having an SRR is to clearly define who has primary responsibility for coordinating purposes to distress situations in every area of the world and to enable rapid distribution of distress alerts to the appropriate in each case RCC.

The Cyprus SRR is a broad area covering 176000 sq. Km and coincides with the Nicosia Flight Information Region (FIR). The region has been declared to ICAO and IMO and it is internationally recognized as the official SRR of the Republic of Cyprus as described in the European Air Navigation Plan of ICAO and the Global ( Mediterranean) SAR Plan of IMO respectively.

The primary mission of the JRCC Cyprus is to promote efficient organization of SAR services and to coordinate the conduct of SAR operations in order to locate and provide assistance to persons in distress due to aeronautical and maritime incidents within Cyprus SRR.

Furthermore it maintains contact with other State’s RCCs to ensure the international cooperation demanded by the 1979 Hamburg Convention.

JRCC Cyprus is located at the Larnaca International Airport, in premises provided by the Department of Civil Aviation.

The Operations room relies on highly trained SAR controllers, capable of carrying out their duties in real time within Cyprus SRR and throughout the world 24 hours a day all year round.

Well established procedures provide up to date information about weather conditions and the availability of rescue units in a permanent basis.

The ability of the JRCC to rapidly and effectively respond in emergencies depends on a high degree on the information that is forwarded to it by the alerting posts.

An alerting post is any facility intended to serve as an intermediary between a person reporting an emergency and an RCC. For Cyprus, information regarding distress situation is received from alerting posts like Cyprus Radio, a coast radio station of the Maritime mobile service, Nicosia Area Control Center, the Control Towers of Larnaca and Paphos airports, SAR Unit Bases, other RCCs, via the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) equipment, radar stations and the public.

The communications equipment is aiming at the proper receiving of distress alerts and the efficient conduct of SAR operations and it consists of:

The SAR system has three levels of co-ordination associated with SAR Co-coordinators (SC), SAR Mission Co-coordinators (SMC), and On-Scene Co-coordinators (OSC).

SC has the overall responsibility for establishing, staffing, equipping and managing the SAR system, including providing appropriate legal and funding support. SC is not normally involved in the conduct of a SAR operation.

SMC is in charge of a SAR operation until a rescue has been conducted or until it has become apparent that further efforts would be of no avail, or until responsibility is accepted by another RCC.

OSC is assigned by the SMC to coordinate the activities of the participating units. He may be a person in charge of a SAR unit, ship or aircraft, participating in the SAR operation.

SAR Stages

The response to a SAR incident usually proceeds through a sequence of five stages. These stages are groups of activities typically performed by the SAR system in responding to a SAR incident from the time the system becomes aware of the incident until its response to the incident is concluded. The response to a particular SAR incident may not require the performance of every stage. For some incidents, the activities of one stage may overlap the activities of another stage such that portions of two or more stages are being performed simultaneously. The five SAR stages are:

- Awareness: Knowledge by any person or agency in the SAR system that an emergency situation exists or may exist.

- Initial Action: Preliminary action taken to alert SAR facilities and obtain more information. This stage may include evaluation and classification of the information, alerting of SAR facilities, communication checks, and, in urgent situations, immediate performance of appropriate activities from other stages.

- Planning: The development of operational plans, including plans for search, rescue, and final delivery of survivors to medical facilities or other places of safety as appropriate.

- Operations: Dispatching SAR facilities to the scene, conducting searches, rescuing survivors, and delivering casualties to medical facilities.

- Conclusions: Return of SAR units to a location where they are debriefed, refueled, replenished, and prepared for other missions, return of other SAR facilities to their normal activities, and completion of all required documentation.

The term ‘’First RCC’’ refers to the RCC affiliated with the shore station that first acknowledges a distress alert, and which should assume responsibility for all subsequent SAR coordination unless and until responsibility is accepted by another RCC better able to take action.

SAR facilities include designated SAR units and other resources, which can be used to conduct or support SAR operations. They are composed of trained personnel and provided with equipment suitable for the expeditious conduct of SAR operations.

For Cyprus, facilities selected as SAR units are able to:

Reach the scene of distress quickly and are suitable equipped for providing assistance to prevent or reduce the severity of accidents

• Conduct search operations
• Deliver supplies and survival equipment to the scene of distress
• Rescue survivors
• Provide food, medical or other initial needs to the survivors
• Deliver the survivors in a safety place

These units have been designated after thorough evaluation of the existing aeronautical and maritime units of the National Guard and Cyprus Police forces. Additionally the location of these units, their readiness, their capabilities and the equipment needed to be carried on board, were taken into serious account in order to be able to efficiently conduct SAR operations within the SRR of Cyprus

Besides the designated SAR units, the RCC can also make use of other facilities like military and civil aircrafts, helicopters, vessels tugboats as well as personnel and equipment from services like Police, Fire service, Armed forces, Meteorological service, Department of Merchant Shipping and Civil Aviation, Fisheries department, Ministry of Health etc.

Taking into consideration the specific geographical position of Cyprus, the extend of the SRR, the density of air traffic and the Cyprus flag fleet, it is obvious that the existence of a reliable and flexible JRCC is more than necessary, and all the efforts of JRCC Cyprus are aiming at this goal. Beyond the typical obligation, the provision of SAR services is a humanitarian task. From the first moment, a person in distress becomes the object of an intense effort to receive any possible assistance. Everyone participating in the SAR system is allowed to feel a unique feeling, when contributing in any way to the rescue of human lives.

JRCC Cyprus feels proud that its duties and performance allow it to contribute in saving the lives of people in distress regardless their nationality, color or religion. The main effort is to perform on a 100% professional basis according to what is internationally demanded.